Historic Photos of Tampa , livre ebook

HISTORIC PHOTOS OF
TAMPA
T EXT AND C APTIONS BY R ALPH B ROWER
The Platt Street Drawbridge is raised as a vessel enters the Hillsborough River. The smoke stacks of Tampa Electric Company s Hyde Park plant rise on the left of the scene. This 1926 photo was shot from the Tampa Municipal Hospital that was under construction on Davis Islands.
HISTORIC PHOTOS OF
TAMPA
Turner Publishing Company
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Historic Photos of Tampa
Copyright 2006 Turner Publishing Company
All rights reserved.
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006933648
ISBN-10: 1-59652-293-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-59652-293-0
Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14-0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
C ONTENTS
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
P REFACE
T HE B EGINNINGS OF C IGAR C ITY TO THE T URN OF THE C ENTURY
T AMPA AT THE C OMMENCEMENT OF THE T WENTIETH CENTURY
T HE R OARING T WENTIES, THE G REAT D EPRESSION, AND E CONOMIC R ECOVERY
W ORLD W AR II AND THE B ABY B OOM
N OTES ON THE P HOTOGRAPHS
The magnificent Tampa Bay Hotel, which was built by Henry Plant between 1888 until 1891 at a cost of $3 million, was acquired by the City of Tampa in 1905 for $125,000. It stood mostly unused for nearly 30 years before the buildings and grounds were leased to the University of Tampa in 1933. Seen here in 1959, this is the entrance to the campus from Hyde Park Avenue.
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to express our gratitude to Susan Brower for providing research assistance to the author and contributing support throughout the project.
We would also like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their valuable contributions and assistance in making this work possible:
Otis Anthony, Salatha Bagley, Canter Brown, Jr., Donald L. Chamberlain, Karl H. Grismer, Charles E. Harner, Charles E. Harrison, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission, Robert J. Kaiser, Karen McClure, Gary R. Mormino, Anthony P. Pizzo, R. L. Polk s City Directory of Tampa, George E. Pozzetta, The St. Petersburg Times , Bob Baggett Photography, and Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.
P REFACE
Tampa has thousands of historic photographs that reside in archives, both locally and nationally. This book began with the observation that, while those photographs are of great interest to many, they are not always easily accessible. During a time when Tampa is looking ahead and evaluating its future course, many people are asking, How do we treat the past? These decisions affect every aspect of the city--architecture, public spaces, commerce, tourism, recreation, and infrastructure--and these, in turn, affect the way that people live their lives. This book seeks to provide easy access to a valuable, objective look into Tampa s history.
The power of photographic images is that they are less subjective than words in their treatment of history. Although the photographer can make decisions regarding subject matter and how to capture and present it, photographs do not provide the breadth of interpretation that text does. For this reason, they offer an original, untainted perspective that allows the viewer to interpret and observe.
This project represents countless hours of research and review. The researchers and author have reviewed thousands of photographs in numerous archives. We greatly appreciate the generous assistance of the archivists listed in the acknowledgments of this work, without whom this project could not have been completed.
The goal in publishing this work is to provide broader access to a set of extraordinary photographs that seek to inspire, provide perspective, and evoke insight that might assist people who are responsible for determining Tampa s future. In addition, the book seeks to preserve the past with adequate respect and reverence.
The photographs selected have been reproduced using multiple colors of ink to provide depth to the images. With the exception of touching up imperfections caused by the damage of time, no other changes have been made. The focus and clarity of many images is limited to the technology and the ability of the photographer at the time they were taken.
The work is divided into eras. Beginning with some of the earliest known photographs of Tampa, the first section records photographs from the 1870s through the end of the nineteenth century. The second section spans the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of World War I. Section three moves from the 1920s to World War II. And finally, Section four covers World War II to the 1960s.
In each of these sections we have made an effort to capture various aspects of life through our selection of photographs. People, commerce, transportation, infrastructure, religious institutions, educational institutions, and scenes of natural beauty have been included to provide a broad perspective.
It is the publisher s hope that in utilizing this work, long-time residents will learn something new and that new residents will gain a perspective on where Tampa has been, so that each can contribute to its future.
Todd Bottorff, Publisher
Intersection of Franklin and Lafayette streets, looking southwest across river toward the area that will be developed into Hyde Park
T HE B EGINNINGS OF C IGAR C ITY TO THE T URN OF THE C ENTURY
1880-1899
Although the village of Tampa had existed for hundreds of years, it wasn t until the establishment of Fort Brooke in 1824 that true development began. Fifty-nine years later the retiring military post was opened for homesteading. The edges of the city were defined to the north by Tyler Street, by Whiting Street to the south, by East Street to that side, and to the west by the Hillsborough River.
The census of 1880 showed Tampa with a mere 720 residents. The majority were whites, but more than a third were freed slaves. The cornerstone moment for the city occurred in 1884 when transportation magnate Henry B. Plant decided to connect Jacksonville to Tampa by rail.
Just two years later, Plant s railroads, the developing port, and the area s humidity which functioned as a natural humidor, lured the cigar industry up from Key West where labor unrest had hindered production. The land northeast of Tampa was developed as a factory town called Ybor City. Vincente Mart nez Ybor and Ignacio Haya were the first to open their factories. By 1899 there were 4,000 Cubans living in Ybor City and in another development called West Tampa.
An 1896 Spanish embargo on shipments of tobacco from Cuba to the United States threatened to cripple Tampa s main industry. In response, Henry Plant sent his two fastest steamers, the S.S. Mascotte and S.S. Olivette, to run the blockade. With the aid of the Cuban farmers, both ships were loaded with enough tobacco for an entire year s cigar production in Tampa. The Mascotte is honored on Tampa s city seal.
By the mid-1880s Tampa was a stop-over point for tourists who rode the railways south to board pleasure cruises to the Caribbean and Central and South America. As an accommodation to his wealthy patrons, Henry Plant built the opulent, Moorish-styled Tampa Bay Hotel on the western bank of the Hillsborough River. For passage from the city across to the hotel, Plant persuaded the government and corporate donors to construct the Lafayette Street Bridge.
It was among the cigar factory workers of Tampa that the famed poet, orator, and political revolutionary, Jos Mart , delivered passionate speeches which incited cries of Cuba Libre as well as donations of arms and cash in the Cuban struggle for independence. Tampa was also the assembly and debarkation site for the U.S. Troops who invaded Cuba and helped its people defeat the Spanish for control of the island nation.

Intersection of Monroe and Lafayette Streets viewed from courthouse. In the foreground is the Hanging Tree reputedly used in lynchings. Monroe Street was renamed Florida Avenue and Lafayette Street is now John F. Kennedy Boulevard. (1882)

In the early years of Tampa, Washington Street was the center of commerce. This photo from 1881 shows the Mercantile Building which housed W.A. Givens drug store and H.C. Ferris Company dry goods store.

Tampa Street Railway Company s wood-burning steam engine No. 2 with passenger cars in tow and employees ready to receive patrons. (1886)

The paddle-wheel steamer Erie of the Morgan Line served west central Florida from at least 1880 until 1890. Maritime records show her with ports of call in Clearwater, Safety Harbor, St. Petersburg, Cedar Key, and, of course, Tampa. She is pictured here at the Morgan Line dock at the foot of Lafayette Street. (1885)

The view in 1886 from the roof of the Hillsborough County Courthouse of the intersection of Monroe and Madison Streets. Monroe became Florida Avenue. Notice that the city is heavily residential in this era; later all of the original city will be developed commercially.

The three-story building with the first floor windows exposed is the Branch Opera House on Franklin Street which runs left to right at the bottom of this photo. Lafayette is the intersecting street that is visible to the left. The building with the spire on Lafayette is the hardware store of Knight and Wall. The Tampa Bay Hotel can be seen near the horizon.

The new Lafayette Street Bridge forged the Hillsborough River and led to the Tampa Bay Hotel. When this photo was taken, in 1890, the hotel construction had been completed but was not yet receiving guests. The Plants were still scouring Europe for furnishing; the hotel did not open until the following year.

A view up